Viewing blog posts tagged with "Weight Gain"

When I first thought about writing this blog I had patients with anorexia nervosa in mind. Patients with AN often struggle to find their voice, regardless of how smart, competent and encouraged they may be by others. On the other hand, our patients of high body weight for whom metabolic problems have lead to obesity, can have the same problem: shame and self-loathing has made them reluctant to use their voice, to fight back.

Unfortunately, “finding their voice”, a commonly stated…

When you practice as long as I have in the field of childhood eating disorders, one thing becomes abundantly clear: there are cycles to the frequency with which patients appear on our doorstep for treatment -- and on the doorsteps of all the other treatment centers as well. The trouble is, it has proven difficult to understand the peaks and troughs of these cycles and correlate them to much of anything. But there do seem to be a few tentatively recognizable patterns. And these…

This post was originally published on November 13, 2013.

Until I lived in the world of therapists and mental health professionals as part of the Kartini multidisciplinary team treating children with eating disorders, I had never actually heard the phrase “tolerating distress”, particularly as it pertained to parents.  Like most parents, I have a very difficult time tolerating pain in my own children, either physical or emotional and, when put in that situation, I immediately get…

On February 9 at 10:30 AM PST / 1:30 PM EST, Dr. Julie O'Toole, founder and Chief Medical Officer at Kartini Clinic for Children and Families in Portland, Oregon will lead a Tweet Chat conversation sponsored by Academy for Eating Disorders. The Tweet Chat will focus on “Weight Restoration 2.0”, a topic which Dr. O'Toole has written about extensively in her blog, Give Food a Chance.

To participate in the live Tweet Chat, you need to have a Twitter account. To follow or participate in…

It still happens all the time.  I go to see a family in the hospital (and they can be from anywhere) and as I take their history, the parents begin their recitation of what brought their son or daughter to this juncture in the first place.

It often starts subtly: increased alone time as a result of less interest in social activities, more time spent on homework and “fitness” or sport.  Eating “healthy”.  Who can argue with eating healthy and homework?  Then the vegetarianism.…

Let’s start with the impetus for my morning study focus: requirements by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) for what they call “Maintenance of Certification”.  Those of you reading this who are American physicians know what I mean: we are required to take Board Examinations every ten years, something I have just finished doing (again).  Some of you reading this may be lawyers or therapists—imagine if you had to retake your professional exams every ten years.  I am not talking…

I read an article on Medpage the other day - “Docs have Role in Preventing Childhood Obesity” - about recent recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which I found both annoying and discouraging in equal amounts.

First the annoying part: a prominent, almost certainly staged picture of two overweight children with their mouths open, watching TV, a huge spread of take-out food on the coffee table before them.  Who allows their children to be photographed like that?…

“With what incredible courage we are able to endure the suffering of others” -- My favorite quote from English garden writer Christopher Lloyd.  And nowhere does it apply more than in medicine.  And within the world of medicine, nowhere more than in the world of mental health.

When my neighbor is poor, he deserves it for his sloth and lack of thrift.  When I am poor, I am the victim of unfairness and persecution.  When a young man medicates his abdominal pain with narcotics, he just…

For the purposes of this discussion I am somewhat arbitrarily defining “very early onset” as 12 years and younger.  Despite what you might think, this is not synonymous with “pre-pubertal onset” as Caucasian girls on average begin breast development - and the hormonal changes associated with this - at about 10 ½ years of age. Boys on average begin to go through pubertal changes about two years later.  And for girls and boys of African and Hispanic heritage average ages for these…

One thing I've observed over the years is that those readers who are interested in anorexia nervosa seem to have little interest in obesity, which they often seem regard as an lifestyle choice irrelevant to them, while those who study obesity often ask themselves what this rare condition (AN) has to do with their vastly more prevalent (read: important) condition of obesity (OB)? Quite a lot, as it turns out. And by the way, it’s worth repeating at the outset, neither condition is one…